NEW YORK — In some ways, the issues that have plagued Colton Cowser are a microcosm of the teamwide problems that have left the Orioles to play out the string of a disappointing season.

When Cowser has been healthy, he has underperformed. The outfielder hasn’t been healthy frequently, though. On top of a broken thumb that held him out for two months early in the year, Cowser suffered two broken ribs in June, just a week after he returned from the thumb injury.

Cowser played through the rib fractures, wanting to avoid an additional stint on the sideline. He emphasized he didn’t want to make the rib injuries an excuse, and he acknowledged them only after The Baltimore Banner asked directly about his ribs.

Still, as Cowser looks back on his year, there’s no denying the impact three injuries — thumb, ribs and a concussion — have had on his performances. That paints a clearer picture of his season, even though it can still be categorized as unsatisfactory for all parties involved.

“It hurt pretty good,” Cowser said of his rib fractures. “I was playing through that, and some days were better than others, and some days were worse than others. But ultimately, when I got back to the point where I was feeling good, I still wasn’t playing very well and still trying to find my way back in a sense.”

In the fourth inning against the Tigers on June 12, Cowser crashed into the center-field fence as he attempted to chase down Dillon Dingler’s home run into the bullpen at Camden Yards. Cowser crumpled to the ground and was in clear discomfort, but he remained in the game. He missed the next three games but returned to the lineup four days after the collision.

Cowser said he had two avulsion fractures, which occur when a piece of bone attached to a ligament or tendon breaks away from the full bone. The Cleveland Clinic said it may take 12 weeks to fully heal. Cowser played on — and while the pain was manageable during games, it limited the progress he could make in the batting cage before a game.

“I was playing through that without getting a lot of the stuff, cage work done, things like that, that I wanted to do,” Cowser said. That only made it more difficult to find a rhythm at the plate.

“When I started feeling better, it was just trying to get back to where I was,” he said. “Ultimately, I think it was just trying to figure out the approach again and not trying to feel like, when I started struggling, rather than just taking the things that were coming to me, trying to get four hits in one at-bat. So I think, just overall, a lot to learn from it, and I’m looking forward to carrying that into the offseason and progressing into next year.”

A concussion in August took him away from the field once more, and it prevented Cowser from building momentum. As a result of all the setbacks, he saw a decline from his strong rookie campaign, when he finished with a .768 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

Entering Friday at Yankee Stadium, Cowser was hitting .199. He still showcased power numbers, with 16 homers, but he turned in too much swing and miss. Cowser had struck out in 35.2% of his plate appearances entering Friday, which ranked in the bottom 1% among qualified hitters, according to Statcast. Cowser ranked in the third percentile for his 34.5% whiff rate.

“Feels like I’m either striking out or hitting a home run right now. I sure as heck would like to stop striking out,” he said in mid-September. “Right now, it’s the early swings in counts, some foul balls on pitches I should be hitting.”

If there is a positive in his year, it’s that Cowser saw clear improvement as a center fielder. For instance, he finished September as an above-average fielder, according to Statcast’s fielding run value leaderboard, after spending an injury-addled June with a negative-2 run value in the outfield.

But, even with Friday’s double, Cowser has struggled to string an extended period of success together. His OPS is hovering at .669, far below the production that made him an American League Rookie of the Year finalist in 2024.

If there’s any consolation, however, it’s that Cowser and others suffered through an injury-filled season early in their careers. Cowser, Adley Rutschman and Jordan Westburg — all players who missed extended periods — and more will be back next season in an attempt to turn this into something productive.

For one, Cowser said, he feels as though he has a better idea of how to reacclimate himself after an injury absence if he’s forced out in the future. That silver lining is something, even if this is a season to forget for the Orioles.

“Going through it this year is better in a sense of coming back on a team that’s in first place, because now you know what you have to do to maintain that level of competition and competitiveness,” Cowser said. “You’re not feeling lost. You understand what you have to do.”